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China Digital TV in a Nutshell

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Looking for a way to play the burgeoning Chinese middle class without risking your shirt? Rule Breakers recommendation China Digital TV (NYSE: STV  ) might be the stock for you.

The company just reported second-quarter results that included a 29% year-over-year sales jump and 27% higher earnings per depositary share. That's the hypergrowth power of the increasing spending power in China.

China Digital TV specializes in making "smart cards" that connect set-top boxes and modern TV sets to digital cable services. You might be familiar with the CableCARD standard that does the same thing for American consumers; this is the Chinese equivalent. Stateside, you'll find CableCARDs made by Hauppauge Digital, Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO  ) , and Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI  ) .

Digital cable is a cost-effective way to send high-quality video signals, and it's very well suited to dense population centers like the ones you'll find in enormous Chinese metropolises.

There's no doubt in my mind that this market will grow quickly until China is saturated with digital video systems. China Digital TV is a leader in the field, but that's not the end of the story: "Industry leadership and superior execution have enabled us to deliver faster than market growth," says CEO Jianhua Zhu.

In other words, the company is growing its already dominant market share in a booming niche. Moreover, the stock is priced as if digital video was going out of style, even though most of China Digital TV's growth still lies ahead. What's not to love?

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Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here. The Fool owns shares of and has created a bull call spread position on Cisco Systems. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Cisco Systems and China Digital TV Holding. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. You can check out Anders' holdings and a concise bio, follow him on Twitter or Google+, or peruse our Foolish disclosure policy.


Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

  • Report this Comment On August 19, 2011, at 7:22 AM, gadawg403 wrote:

    This company makes money mostly by sellng "smart cards" for the digital TV conversion that is mandatory by 2015 in China. I am a shareholder of STV and the company seems to be raking in the cash right now. My concern is what is going to happen when 2015 gets here and everyone has converted to digital. Does this company have enough other revenue streams to make it thrive or even keep it afloat?

  • Report this Comment On November 21, 2011, at 2:11 PM, tommyretro wrote:

    "Without losing you shirt? It's down 44% this year lol.

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Related Tickers

5/25/2012 4:07 PM
STV $3.24 Up +0.09 +2.86%
China Digital TV CAPS Rating: ***
MMI $0.00 Down +0.00 +0.00%
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CSCO $16.33 Down -0.06 -0.37%
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